The Hitter
by poetic heart 75
Summary: Eliot discovers a female hitter that is in trouble
1. Chapter 1

The Hitter

Eliot Spencer is in a local bar unwinding after a long day at work. He spots a dark haired woman with a beautiful body sitting alone at the bar. He checks her out to himself and decides to take a chance by approaching her. She couldn't possibly be taken. The way her jeans fit the curves of her body and the way her blouse had the top couple buttons undone said she was looking for male attention. At least, he hoped she wanted male attention. She was too beautiful to like women and this was a straight bar mostly. The occasional same sex couple would walk in, but it was mostly a place to pick up straight men and straight women who were single. She had an athletic body. He could tell she worked out and took really good care of herself.

Woman: "A Jack and Coke on the rocks, please."

Bar tender: "Sure thing, miss."

He gets her drink and Eliot half smiles to himself. Now this was a real woman after his heart. Real women could handle drinking whiskey. That meant she was one of those tough women. She could probably kick his ass if she was in a bad mood. But, there had been an air of friendliness to her voice when she spoke. She even smiled when she thanked the bar tender for the drink. She was in no mood to kick anyone's ass right now. She was blowing off steam and unwinding after a long day just like he was. He'd take his chances now. He walked over to where she was sitting and stood next to the stool next to her.

Eliot: "Excuse me, is this stool taken?"

She turned that beautiful smile on to him and gestured for him to take it. He sits and she does her own once over checking him out. She decides she likes what she sees and turns to face him. She was impressed with his looks just as much as he was with hers.

Woman: "It is now. I'm Joanne."

Eliot: "I'm Eliot, nice to meet you."

She holds out her hand for him to shake and he lingers for a few brief seconds after squeezing it politely.

Joanne: "So, what is a good looking man like you, doing in a dive bar like this?"

Eliot: "I live 15 minutes from here. It's a quick walk from where I live."

Joanne: "That's a good enough reason for me."

Eliot orders a Jack on the rocks and the bar tender brings it over to him.

Eliot: "Next round is on me."

Joanne: "A gentlemen who drinks Jack. I think we have just crossed over into friend territory."

She taps her glass against his and Eliot gives her a smirked smile. Eliot has no idea there is a group of men on the outside of the bar photographing everything Joanne is doing and documenting it. They're taking note of everyone she talks to including him. The men blend in with the crowd passing by the corner dive bar except for the occasional glimpse of a camera coming out of a pocket and the "click" sound of pictures being stored. Joanne has no idea these men are looking at her either.

See, Joanne has a colorful past that would make any sane man question her sanity. Joanne is a hitter and has been hired to do a lot of jobs for a lot of different organizations. Her last job was for an Irish mobster in Upper New York City. Joanne has made more grown men cry home to their moms then anyone could count. Eliot would be proud of her little secret, but she never tells about her life story. That's the way she liked it. She's in control of everything and he only knows what she allows him to know and vise versa. Right now, she was in control of drinking with her hot bar partner who seemed to be very much mutually attracted to her. Besides, if he asked what she did for a living what was she supposed to say. She couldn't very well just tell him she was a hired hitter. He wouldn't understand what that meant unless he was doing the same job. Besides, most men got intimidated and ran away when they found out she wasn't little miss Damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor.

Joanne: "So, what else do you do, Mr. Jack on the rocks?"

Eliot: "I'm in the security business."

Joanne: "Security business, eh. You don't strike me as a rent-a-cop. As a matter of fact, you look like the type who's given the cops a run for their money many times."

Eliot: "Oh yeah. I've defiantly given the cops a run for their money. Never been caught either."

Joanne: "Really. You're just that good at what you do that you can out run the cops."

Eliot: "Not only can I out run them, but I've done my share of taken them down."

Joanne: "You some sort of Hitter or something?"

Eliot raises an eye brow at the mention of being a Hitter. Only someone who did the work for a living would casually throw that term around off of the top of their heads. That meant she must know him from somewhere. He'd made a lot of enemies all over the world. It would be just his luck that she was one of them. This evening was looking promising and now his choice of beautiful women may be a dangerous blast from his past coming back to collect a debt. But, he didn't recognize her. Her face wasn't familiar at all.

Elliot: "Or something. Why are you so curious about what I do for a living?"

Joanne: "Making conversation. It's nothing personal."

No. No sort of recognition flashing in her eyes or anything. It really was just a random question to make bar talk. Either that or she was a good liar. Even a good liar would have their walls down after a couple Jack and Cokes.

Elliot: "So, what do you do?"

Joanne: "I'm in the security business also. I'm mostly into big businesses but, small businesses and Internet businesses are good. Let's just say I take what is rightfully mine and give back what rightfully belongs to the little people."

Elliot: "A modern day female Robin Hood."

Joanne: "Yeah. Only it takes more then bows and arrows to take me down. I'm a bit of a fighter when I'm being confronted."

Elliot: "I like my women feisty."

Joanne: "I'm sure you do."

Mutual flirting was a good sign. No, she defiantly wasn't an enemy or on a mission to take him down. That was a relief. It was rare that he actually got a day to himself where he wasn't working or on his guard. After a few more drinks, they were laughing and smiling and he felt himself growing closer to her.

Joanne: "What do you say to getting out of here and going somewhere a little more private?"

She ran her hand threw his hair and kissed his neck to make her point clearly known.

Eliot: "Let's go."

Joanne takes him to her car. Before they get inside the car, she starts kissing him in the parking lot. Things start to get hot and heavy as she unlocked the car and Eliot got inside. He wasn't sure he was going to last the 15 minutes it took to get to his place from here, but she seemed to be in control so he had to play her game if he was going to get anywhere quickly with her.

They pull up in front of Eliot's apartment complex. Joanne parks the car and the two of them get out heavily into kissing and groping each other all the way to the door. Joanne never noticed the black car that was following them to Eliot's apartment. The same guys that were taking pictures outside the bar was now watching the two of them go inside the apartment complex with great interest. The head guy driving looked very pleased with himself. He was sure he discovered Joanne's hide out and now she was cornered with no where else to go. He didn't count on Eliot knowing exactly who he was and who he worked for.

Eliot didn't waist any time with Joanne. They made it inside his front door before he picked her up around his waist and kicked the door shut behind him. He puts her up against the wall as they are both eagerly removing each other's clothes and throwing them all over the apartment in random spots. She removes the elastic band from around his wrist and pulls his hair back out of the way as he goes to town kissing and biting her neck. They move from the wall to the counter top of the island in the middle of what would be the kitchen area in the middle of the apartment.

Joanne: "Take me right here."

She pulls him down on top of her and round one continues. They finish and he takes her into his bedroom and round two starts. The next morning, Eliot wakes up and sees Joanne still sleeping soundly next to him in the bed. He lightly kisses her on the forehead before removing himself from the bed and searching around on the floor for his shorts he had on. Not being successful in finding them he walks over to the dresser and gets another pair out. He smiles to himself as he sees the virtual stream of clothes tossed all over the floor of the apartment and picks them up. He folds her stuff and sets it on the chair in his room next to her. He cleans the counter remembering what happened and goes to work making breakfast.

Meanwhile, out on the street, the men that are watching are putting together a plan to bust into Eliot's apartment and kill Joanne. She knew too much to stay alive. She was a liability to the gang and they couldn't have her out there on her own. She could take down the whole organization if left alone and not taken care of.

Joanne comes out of Eliot's bedroom buttoning up one of his flannel shirts and wearing her boy shorts.

Joanne: "Man, some night last night."

Eliot: "Yeah. I put your clothes on the chair in my room for you."

Joanne: "I know. I found them. I just liked this shirt so much on you last night I thought I'd try it on."

She stands like she is modeling for him and he smiles, suddenly something outside catches Eliot's eye and he makes a dive instinctively to cover Joanne. A few gun shots pop off and they both take cover behind the couch.

Joanne: "Bloody cowards. They can't even fight face to face. They have to shoot threw windows."

Eliot: "What the hell is going on? Why are there men shooting up my place?"

Joanne: "I'll explain later if we get out of here alive."

Eliot: "I'll get you out of here alive."

The men with the guns stop shooting and more men break through the front door.

Eliot: "You've got to be kidding me."

Joanne puts her hand on his arm as he gets up to do what he does best.

Joanne: "Be careful. These are dangerous men."

Eliot: "I know who they are, Joanne. Just stay down and let me do the work."

He gets up from behind the couch and confronts the first man.

Eliot: "Hey, I don't appreciate you guys just busting in my front door and shooting up the place."

Man: "Give us the girl and we'll leave."

Eliot: "That's not going to happen."

He starts beating the man up and two more men try to jump in. He takes all of them on and beats them down. Joanne, meanwhile, has gotten up and has now come to join the fight. The remaining guys go to take her and she beats them down just as fast as they are coming at her. Eliot is watching her impressed. He recognizes her moves.

Eliot: "Can you explain to me what the hell just happened?"

Joanne: "Well, my day job of security retrieval just got a little more interesting."

Eliot: "We need to get out of here. There could be more goons hiding around waiting for us."

Joanne: "Well, I think you're going to need some pants and a shirt then."

She tosses him a pair of pants and a shirt. He laughs as he puts them on.


	2. Chapter 2

Layla: "This is a whole other kettle of fish. It's a little more complicated then forging some documents and stealing money out of vaults. You'll need an in."

Eliot: "I'm the in. I know some people who work for them."

Nathan: "Let's steal back Layla's life."

Hardison comes downstairs.

Hardison: "Hello pretty lady. Who do we have here?"

He looks her up and down and Eliot gives him a look like "You'd better watch it." And Hardison smiles at him.

Layla: "Hello. I'm Layla. I'm a friend of Eliot's."

Hardison: "Alec Hardison, I'd like to consider myself a friend of Eliot's. We work together. I'm the computer genius."

Layla: "A computer genius eh. Well, I just may have some work for you to do for me. It requires a little more then cracking some fancy bank security system though."

Hardison: "Bring it on."

She gets her purse and pulls out a hard drive and hands it to him.

Layla: "This thing is so far encrypted that I have no idea what's even on it. I just know that the guys with the guns would be more then happy to have it back."

Hardison: "Whoa, guys with guns? What's going on here?"

Nathan: "I will explain it as soon as the girls get here."

As if they were on a cue, Parker and Sophie come into the apartment.

Sophie: "We got here as quickly as we could. What's the big job?"

Nathan: "Say hello to Layla."

Sophie: "Hello Layla. I'm Sophie and this is Parker."

Layla: "Hello Parker, nice to meet you."

Parker leans in to shake her hand and sniffs her. Layla gives her a look like "Are you feeling all right?"

Parker: "You're wearing Eliot's shirt."

Layla: "Yes I am. I had to borrow his shirt this morning."

Parker: "Why is Layla borrowing your clothes?"

Eliot: "The Job, Parker. Focus on the job."

Parker: "Ooh we have a job."

She sits on the couch and Sophie sits next to her. Hardison is hard at work trying to decrypt the drive Layla gave her. Nathan explains to the girls how they're going to try to steal back Layla's life from the mob.


	3. Chapter 3

She sits on the couch and Sophie sits next to her. Hardison is hard at work trying to decrypt the drive Layla gave him. Nathan explains to the girls how they're going to try to steal back Layla's life from the mob.

Parker: "I can't steal anything from the mob."

Nathan: "Don't worry. You'll find something to steal. I know you."

Suddenly Hardison yells out triumphantly.

Hardison: "Booya! Take that Irish Mob. I cracked your encryptions. That's right come to poppa."

His screen starts filling with information on different mob people and different positions. Basically a who's who of the head families and the jobs they've done for them.

Hardison: "Oooh Mr. O'Malley has been a very busy guy here in Boston. It seems that the O'Malley family has tried to take out 5 of the McLean's head men in the past month."

Layla: "Yeah. I went after a couple of those retaliations. They don't mess around. It's brutal."

Eliot: "That's why we can't afford to go in there blind. If they even suspect they are being played we go down."

Layla: "All the way down."

Hardison: "Damn girl. How the hell did you get caught up in all this bullshit?"

Layla: "I had a crappy guidance councilor in high school. I'm an adrenaline junky too."

Hardison: "I think we all have a little bit of an adrenaline junky in us. I get a rush off this."

He gestures to the files piling up. Eliot starts laughing.

Eliot: "You're crappy guidance councilor never said to go out and work for the mob for kicks."

Layla: "Trust me. This isn't how I get my kicks. This was my bread and butter. I got paid and I got paid really well. I wasn't about to give up those checks especially since it was straight up cash most of the time. A girl can get really comfortable with all those zeros."

Parker: "You're preaching to the choir on that one, sister. I love cash and I love lots of zeros at the end of numbers. I'm a thief."

Layla: "So Hacker, Hitter, thief and I assume Nate here, is the brains."

Eliot: "Yup."

Layla: "So, what your part in this, Sophie?"

Sophie: "I'm the Grifter in this operation. My job is to hook the mark. I basically make people trust me and then we bust them."

Layla: "Nice, use the sexy woman to earn the man's trust and then drop him like a hot potato. I like that idea."

Sophie: "It works for me."

Layla: "So, the Hacker, the Hitter, the thief, the Brains and the grifter all work together to provide Leverage for the little people."

Nathan: "Basically, the rich and powerful take what they want and we take it back."

Layla: "Like what I've been doing minus getting shot at. I hate guns."

Eliot: "Yeah. I hate guns too. I won't use them."

Layla: "Me either."

Hardison: "Where did you find this woman at, anyway?"

Eliot: "Let's just say I wasn't looking for trouble when we met."

Layla: "We were drinking together at the bar. Next thing I know, I wake up in his apartment with guys shooting at us. All I can figure is they thought it was my hide out and that they had busted me finally. They were tying up the loose ends."

Eliot: "Except they missed and now they're really gonna be pissed."

Hardison: "This doesn't sound like it's going to go down smoothly."

Nathan: "We've been up against worst odds then this. If we start getting cold feet now, the whole thing is going to blow up. We know the players. All we have to do is get into the game. Now, according to this, they've been involved in everything from gun trading to money laundering."

Layla: "If you can think of it, you've probably dealt with an O'Malley or an associate of the O'Malley family one way or another. Now, Eliot, you said that you know some of the family."

Eliot: "Yeah, I've dealt with Mike and I've dealt with one of his brothers, Charles."

Layla: "I don't see how you and I have never met. I was Mike's right hand woman. Charles was basically the guy who gave me orders. He's like a lap dog. If you want to get close to the family, you're best bet is to use Mike. He reports straight to Frank."

Hardison: "Frank O'Malley is all over this hard drive. He's the head boss person."

Layla: "One of them, yes. There's many head boss people, but Mike will get you to Frank and that's as good as being the head leader himself."

Parker rises up her hand like she's asking a question in school.

Layla: "Yes, Parker."

Parker: "How are we supposed to go after the head boss, Mike or Frank when we don't even know anyone who is doing deals with them right now?"

Layla: "Leave that to me. I'll keep my ears and eyes open for anything going on. Trust me. We won't have to wait long. They're always up for fun and games. Especially now that they think I'm gone. Can you believe they thought I was a cop?"

Eliot looks her over.

Eliot: "You never can be too careful these days I guess."


	4. Chapter 4

This peaks Hardison's interest as well. He looks at her with an inquizative stare. Eliot would never associate with a cop on purpose. By now, all of them knew his face. Nobody really ever thought that she might be a cop until she brought it up. It was handy how she had that little hard drive right there in her possession. Honestly, nobody even thought to ask that question.

Hardison: "How exactly did you come across this little Flash drive again?"

Layla: "I stole it from some very pissed off people. It was supposed to be delivered to Frank, but Charles somehow misplaced it. Now Frank is pissed because that little Flash drive has some very important information on it. He can't make his next move without the details on that drive. My source already contacted Charles and Frank. They've been calling my phone."

She gestures to the 10 missed calls she never returned. No voice mail. They assumed she would just answer their call since they were her bosses.

Nathan: "Next time they call, answer the phone and set up a meeting. I have an idea."

Layla: "Really. You want me to just set up a meeting with two men who want me dead. What's stopping them from following through on their promise to deliver my corpse?"

Nathan: "Nothing. You'll just have to trust us."

Layla looks at Eliot and looks the group over. She'd never met any of them before. There was defenatly no loyalty there and they were defenetly not friends. She wouldn't double cross them, but what was stopping any of them from double crossing her? There was one thing she learned in her years in the business and that was trust no one. Nothing is exactly what it seems and this felt like one of those situations. Especially how quick Nate was to get her to meet with the men who wanted to kill her. Not 5 minutes ago, he was making promises to keep her safe. Somehow, there was something in those blue eyes that said she really could trust him. It felt natural like trusting a family member.

Eliot: "I trust these guys with my life. They would never put you in a dangerous situation we can't get you out of."

Layla: "This is not just some game to me. These guys mean business. They hear my voice and I am as good as dead. It's not just some crazy con we can pull out of."

Nathan: "If they don't hear your voice, they send out more men to look for you and someone else may get hurt."

Layla: "How am I supposed to trust a group of total strangers? I don't know any of you and you have no loyalty to me. What's stopping you all from turning on me?"

Eliot: "You trusted us the minute you told us your story. You gave Hardison your Leverage to figure out without even asking any questions. That right there tells me you trust all of us."

Eliot puts a supportive arm around her.

Layla: "I trust some of you. I haven't had any luck trusting other females in the past."

Eliot: "That's as good as trusting the whole group. You trust Nate, Hardison and me. We're you're base. Nate won't lead you wrong and Hardison is your geek back up. Parker and Sophie are trustworthy. I can promise you. If I trust them, you can trust them and I trust everyone here."

Layla looks the group over and looks at her phone.

Layla: "I want assurance that I'm not going to get screwed here."

Eliot: "I'm your assurance."

The look on his face said it all. He wanted her to trust him and his crew. He wasn't the type to hand over his trust to anyone either. He sounded like he was dead sure that Nate and the crew had her back as well as his own.


	5. Chapter 5

The look on his face said it all. He wanted her to trust him and his crew. He wasn't the type to hand over his trust to anyone either. He sounded like he was dead sure that Nate and the crew had her back as well as his own. Even without hearing the plan, it felt right to answer that next call with them present. She didn't have to wait long for the next call. She gave Nate the "Here goes everything" look and answered the phone.

Layla: "Yeah. It's me."

Frank: "Where's the drive?"

Layla: "I have it."

Frank: "Why wasn't it delivered to me? Your job was to retrieve that drive and deliver it to me. I'm still waiting. I don't like to wait for things that are mine. Is there a problem?"

Layla: "I'll say there's a problem. The situation was compromised. I wasn't comfortable giving the drive to Charlie. Some goones started shooting."

Frank: "Well, since you have a problem with Charlie. You can deliver it to me personally. I trust there won't be a problem with that."

Layla: "I have no problems with you, Frank. I have a problem with being shot at. I don't respond to wild threats and attacks. Especially when you attack me in front of innocent people. I never agreed to let people shoot at me. I don't like guns."

Frank: "We do what we have to do to protect ourselves. You understand what it's like. You've been doing jobs for me for awhile now. I've never had any reason to kill you. Don't give me one now."

Layla: "You never needed an excuse. Where do you want to meet?"

Frank: "Dock 10 in an hour. Bring the drive and don't be late. I won't ask next time."

He hangs up.

Layla: "We meet at Dock 10 in an hour. He wants the drive."

Hardison hands her the drive. Layla looks at him like "Why would you give this back?" and the realizes he probably duplicated the information somewhere so they could take Frank down.

Layla: "I'm going to pretend you never copied this to get back at Frank later. I want to nail that son of a bitch to the wall."

Hardison winks and smiles at her.

Hardison: "This one is fiesty. Keep a hold of her, Eliot."

Eliot: "I'm going to this meeting with you. I don't want anyone getting any ideas and trying to kill you before you arrive."

Layla: "I'm capable of handling myself. You don't have to play bodyguard and baby sitter for me. I can handle Frank."

Eliot: "I didn't say you couldn't handle Frank. I said I'm coming with you."

Layla: "I bet you wish you were handling a small business now."

Eliot: "This is my business. It's what I do."

An hour goes by and the team takes their positions. Hardison gives Layla an ear bud so they can all communicate with her.

Layla: "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Hardison: "There is no way for them to know you have that ear bud unless they have them also. We're going to be here on the other side the whole time."

Layla: "All right. I'm at the location now."

Layla and Eliot are looking around surveying the area and everything that surrounds it. Both making a plan of attack and maping out escape points.

Layla: "Nice. There aren't even any cameras over here on this dock or any other security measures."

Eliot: "This doesn't feel right."

Layla: "Well, it's too late to go back now."

Four black SUV's pull up and about 20 guys get out with Frank.

Frank: "Hello Layla. I've been expecting you."

Layla: "Hello boys. I wasn't expecting you to bring your goones with you too."

Frank: "One can never be too careful. You brought your own protection I see."

He eyes Eliot who is mentally counting all the guards around him and taking in the weapons they have on them.

Layla: "I'm only one girl. I don't need 20 guys to protect me. I retrieve. I don't hire to kill."

Frank: "Oh I can prove otherwise. This is just a simple exchange of goods. Nobody has to get hurt. Unless of couse what I want isn't here. Then I'm going to assume you sold me out to your cop friends and this goes ugly really quick."

Layla: "Well, since it's a simple exchange, then why don't you tell me who was trying to shoot up my place last night?"

Frank: "Is that what your offering? The drive for the information on the hit. Do you really think I am that stupid that I'm just going to hand over some incriminating information to you. You've already compramised my trust."

Layla: "You are that stupid. You tried to have me killed before you even got the full report on the situation. That's a stupid move. Not to mention your paranoid. Paranoia is never a good thing. Do you have a reason for the cops to be staking out your businesses right now? Is that why you keep accusing me of being one of them?"

Frank: "I accuse you of being one of them because only a cop would keep that drive out of my hands. Only a cop would try to stop my plans to save their city. A cop would be worried about taking down my business and not about saving their own ass."

Layla: "Frank, you just proved to me that you don't know a damn thing about me or my job. I don't give a good god Damn what you do to this city. If you have some plan to take over Boston and over throw the world, that's your business. That doesn't involve me. I'm not the one who is going around talking about cops and getting busted. The last thing I need to to is go down because my boss got paranoid. I'll just tell Mike about this little conversation we're having. I'm sure he'll be really curious to know how you got so paranoid."

Frank: "I'm not in the business of making friends. Mr. Spencer here will tell you that. Damien sends his regards."

Eliot: "Your in business with Mauro."

Frank: "Yes. Mauro seems to think there's a whole team of rats crawling around this dock trying to get information on this deal to take us down. He also informed me that you and he were good friends for a long time."

Layla: "This is all very interesting. I'm glad we could have a family reunion here. Did you two want some time to hug it out? Are we dealing or playing games because I don't play games."

Frank: "I find it incredibly entertaining that you would take my drive and go straight for Mauro's hit man. He can't get you anywhere."

Eliot: "If you know so much about my job, then you know it's never a good idea to piss me off."

Frank: "You ask so many questions. Not once did you even stop to think what was going to happen to you or what my crew was going to do with yours. You're too wrapped up in protecting Layla and watching her back. It never occurred to you that we'd go after your team first. We're on to you, Spencer."

Layla: "Am I boring you with this?"

She pulls the drive out of her pocket.

Layla: "It's obviously not as important to you as I thought."

Frank: "I'm cleaning up the lose ends. I get the drive from you. I kill his crew and then I kill you. We're in the clear."

Layla: "There are no lose ends. Your paranoia is growing. You really should switch to decaff or something. You know I could drop each and every one of you right here right now before you had a chance to even say the word "boo"."

Frank: "You could. But, I know you don't use guns and we do. There's no way out of this unless you can fight back evenly with guns."

Layla: "I wouldn't be so sure about that Frank. You'd be amazed at what an old fashion ass kicking can accomplish."

Frank: "Yes. In this case, both of your deaths."

Eliot: "I wouldn't underestimate the situation."

Frank: "I'll be taking my drive back now. You two can figure out the petty little survival details without me."

Layla glances at Eliot like "Now what?" He nods at her.

Layla: "Seriously? You still think this little ambush is necessary. I haven't done anything to deserve your mistrust."

Frank: "And I'm not in this business to make friends."

He grabs the drive from her.

Frank: "It really has been a pleasure. I'm going to miss dealing with you. Your defenatly one of the more beautiful hitters I've dealt with."

Layla: "Do you really think I'm going to make it that easy for you?"

She grabs a hold of his arm before he can pull away from her and kicks the drive out of his hand. It goes sailing in the air and shatters on the ground.

Frank: "You're going to pay for that."

Layla: "So are you."

She starts fighting with him. The men seemed to be waiting for some kind of signal. Eliot jumps into action disarming the gaurds before they can start shooting. It's just enough time for them to be scattered about the wearhouse by the time the police show up to arrest Frank. By then, Layla and the team are long gone and no sign of them anywhere. The shattered drive on the ground being a decoy and the actual incriminating evidence sitting conveinently in Frank's pocket.

Meanwhile, back at Leverage headquarters.

Layla: "Thank you guys so much for helping me back there. That was totally flawless. How the hell do you all manage to get away with that?"

Nathan: "It's easy when your helping the good guys."

Layla: "You really are a mastermind. I've never seen such an organized team."

Eliot: "We have mutual trust. Everyone knows what's going on and when we don't, it's for a good reason."

Nathan: "And it helps when we take a break from each other in between jobs."

Layla: "I owe you all huge for this."

Eliot: "The best pay back you can provide is getting yourself established in your new life."

Hardison hands her an envalope.

Hardison: "Everything you need is in there. ID, credit cards, driver's license, social security cards. They're all legit. You are officially a new person that nobody knows. Including us."

Layla: "Well, you know my new identity. You created it."

Hardison: "I don't know anything. You can't prove anything."

He gives her a serious face and she starts laughing.

Layla: "I think I'm actually going to miss you. You grow on a lady."

Hardison: "I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you."

Eliot: "Well, fungus grows on you too."

Hardison: "See? That was uncalled for. I didn't say anything to you."

Eliot kind of bumps Hardison with his elbow to show he's joking without breaking their usual banter. Layla hugs the girls and gives the guys kisses on the cheek and hugs. She walks out the door and Nathan shuts the door behind her. Another satisfied customer left to lead a long and healthy life.

The end


End file.
